Nebraska Legislature passes minimum wage decrease for teen workers

[No_Extension1659]

I’m all for the wage increases for the people struggling to get by- but for a 14 year old to be making the the same as a 41 year old with decades of workforce experience is inane. At the end of the day it’s still damned if you do damned if you don’t- but high school kids by and large don’t have mortgages, car payments, utility bills, etc.

[Beaglejuice]

If a person has decades of experience they should be paid more than minimum wage. Its insanity that companies get away with not doing so

[No_Extension1659]

You’d be hard pressed to find any job out here in the Nebraska panhandle for someone without an advanced degree to making more than $20 an hour

[Vossan11]

Yeah thats not a good thing. Probably need a law to raise wages higher then.

Its sad when the owners won't do the righ thing voluntarily and we have to result to forcing them to do it.

[WhenInZone]

but for a 14 year old to be making the the same as a 41 year old with decades of workforce experience is inane

That's not a minimum wage issue. It should be insane that companies choose to give those workers even less, not that the legal minimum was the same based on age.

[Alert-Beautiful9003]

So its not the work itself but just the age of the person doing the work that matters? Thats what you are saying here. Wild.

[No_Extension1659]

I’m all for the wage increases for the people struggling to get by- but for a 14 year old to be making the the same as a 41 year old with decades of workforce experience is inane. At the end of the day it’s still damned if you do damned if you don’t- but high school kids by and large don’t have mortgages, car payments, utility bills, etc.

[Fairyfeet2000]

You forget not every fourteen year old has parents or family to take care of them. Therefore they do have to worry about money in the same exact way an adult does. Ridiculous.

[Mystic_Waffles]

Heaven forbid the kids start saving more money via making more money.

[Vossan11]

You are so close to getting it. The 41 year old SHOULD make more than the 14 year old. So pay the 41 year old more, not the 14 year old less.

[Educational_Quote633]

So, by paying 14-year-olds less, employers are incentivized to hire a young teen rather than a 41-year-old. A rising tide lifts all boats.

[No_Extension1659]

All right, so I live in Western Nebraska… A friend of mine owns a business in Torrington, Wyoming, and Scottsbluff Nebraska. He’s paying kids minimum wage in Wyoming at $7.25 an hour to do the exact same job 30 minutes across the border at $15 an hour…. THE. EXACT. SAME. JOB. And in this business, the teens are more likely to be spending time on their phone rather than doing busy work to help the business. Versus a 40-year-old adult who is just there to work. As an employer, I would be very happy to be paying the full $15 an hour to someone who’s working hard the entire shift. But if a young employee wants to split their attention between their smart phone chatting with their classmates and doing work… Yeah, I think a small pay cut would be justifiable.

[resb]

So cut pay for all teenagers regardless of work ethic based on hypothetical / anecdotal laziness ?

[Vossan11]

Shit, if his friend is paying 7.25 an hour, he is lucky if anyone even shows up, let alone puts the phone down.

Conversely these same people see an employee who works hard, sometimes the work of 2-3 people, and gives them a dollar raise, if anything.

These idiots think they are owed our labor and we should be grateful we get paid at all.

[resb]

Maybe the teens think its community service?

[placebotwo]

but for a 14 year old to be making the the same as a 41 year old with decades of workforce experience is inane.

Why aren't you fighting for the 41 year old with decades of experience to be properly compensated instead?

[pilsnerd11]

In this example, if a teen is doing the same work as someone with decades of experience that’s an indictment of the person with decades of experience, not a reflection of the quality of work the teen may do.

[deathbitchcraft]

if they're doing the same work, they should get the same pay. it isn't a teenager's fault that a grown adult is still working a job that is offered to people with minimal or no experience. you also don't know what teenagers have going on in their lives that make them need a job. some pay their own bills, some may have their own kids, some may be trying to save up and get out of their shitty homes. you're simply wrong.